Ends and Means - Debate on the Rathouse forum

Has anyone ever really been able to live an entire life in accord with the slogan: "The end does not justrify the means"? Or been able to say with absoluter clarity which is the end and which is the means?Replies:

The tragedy of making the blanket assumption that "the ends do not justify the means" is that it makes one forget an older, and more accurate, truism:"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions."That is, people act as if the means justify the end.The example that comes to mind is protectionist tariffs, to increase the revenue of domestic manufacturers. These reduce international trade. This leads to depressions and war. Free and open trade is cold-blooded, and can have cruel effects, but it would have kept Hitler out of power.Replies:

yes, I quite agree. There are no easy answer. However, I would say there is a big difference between the cases where someone needs to "make ends meet" as a matter of survival and someone who is just craving for power,lust or easy money. At one extreme, when someone is struggling to find food, water or air to breath, this person would sacrifice the life of others to secure his/her own survival. Then we all have a "safety" imperative: When a community live in an area of the world where they feel under threat to be killed, these people are likely to favour a form of "police state" where innocent by-standers may be sacrificed in the name of the safety of the community. Then, we could take the case of people who are seeking more status, more sex, more self-esteem, more achievement and so on and so forth. In most of these latest cases, when someone think that the end justify the means, this person is definitely acting in an unethical way.